FEATURE
FEATURE
timidity. The rejected person might
want to do anything in their power
to be accepted. They can accept
abuse without complaint and be
ready to accept it just to be near the
one they love. They will go through
hell and back for their loved ones.
Leah gave birth again and this
time she praised God. She named
him Judah. She had shifted her
attention from Jacob and was now
thanking God, recognizing that the
blessing she had received was from
God.
Rachel also felt rejected. She
felt that God had rejected her since
she hadn’t been able to conceive. A
lot of people sometimes feel that
God has rejected them if they do
not receive what they desire. God’s
time is not our time so when we
have not yet received the promise,
it does not mean He has rejected
us. It only means the time is not
right. God’s word concerning you
will be fulfilled at the right time.
Rachel became jealous of her
sister Leah and in her desperation,
she demanded that her husband
give her a son. “Give me children,
or I’ll die “Genesis 30:1. These are
words of desperation. Rachel had
worked herself up into a state
where she had forgotten that
children come from God.
Jacob became angry with her
and said, “Am I in the place of
God, who kept you from having
children?” Genesis 30:1.
This conversation between
Jacob and Rachel indicates that
although she was loved, she was
not happy because she didn’t have
children. She had her personal
struggles; she was jealous of her
sister who was having children
without effort. In her desperation,
she offered her maid to her
husband to enable her have
children. Genesis 30:3.
Her maid gave birth to a son
and she called him Dan meaning
God has vindicated me. Her maid
gave birth again and she named
him Naphtali. “I have struggled
with my sister, and I have won.”
The two sisters had been
jostling and struggling for the
attention of their husband and
having children had become the
trump card for each of them to
draw closer to him.
The struggle continued when
Leah realized she wasn’t
conceiving anymore, and she also
gave her maid to her husband. Her
maid conceived and gave birth to a
boy and she named him Gad and
she said, “what good fortune”. She
felt lucky that her maid had
conceived and then the maid had a
second child and she named him
Asher saying “How happy I am!
The women will call me happy or
blessed”.
Although Leah claimed she
was happy with the birth of her
sons, she was still not content
15
Hannah’s Testimonies